Style of manufactured tobacco



Patented May 30, I899.

w. A. FR ETWELL. STYLE OF MANUFACTURED TUBACCU.

(Application filed Nov. 18, 1898.)

2 Sheet s$haet I.

(No Model.)

A TTOHNEYS.

(No Model.)

Patented May 30, I899.

W. A. FBETWELL.

STYLEOF MANUFACTURED TOBACCO. (Application filed Nov. 18, 189B.)

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

WITNESSES IN VENTOI? 74715.60"; flei'z'bell.

Tn: uomus PETERS co, wmmxumo, WASHINGTON, n, c.

the consumer.

the leaf into twists or bunches; but this did bacco-grower to market'his tobacco in an ac- UNITED STAT S ATENT FFICE.

STYLE OFlVlANUFACTU-RED TOB'ACCO.

SPECIFICATIbN iormling part of Letters Patent No. 625,970, dated May 30, 1899 Application filed November 19, 189 8.

To all whom it may concern:

. Be it known that 1, WILLIAM A. FRETWELL,

of South Boston, in the county of Halifax and State'of Virginia, have invented a new and useful Style'of Manufactured Tobacco, of

which the following is a specification.

Inthe preparation of plug-tobacco for'the market many operations are involved. The

tobacco-leaves as they are taken from the warehouse-floor are first dipped or sprinkled with a sweetening and flavoring compound, usually a solution of licorice and sugah They are then stemmed,which is a tedious'and expensive operation. The stemmed leaves are then wrapped up into thick plugsor lumps while still wet and are then alternately dried and set to drawthat is tosay, after the outinvolve such an expensive plant of special machinery that the marketing of plug-tobacco is practically in the hands of the manufacturers and the tobacco-grower must be'satisfied with the price that he gets from, the manufacturers, being unable to'put his tobacco in an attractive or aeceptable'form for Some eiforts to market the tobacco .direct to the consumer .havebeen made by twisting not meet the conditions nor of my invention.

My invention is designed to enable the to supply the results ceptably-manufactured form for chewing or smoking andby avoiding the necessity for a manufacturers plant and the ordinary expenses and tedious operation of manufacturing to markethis tobacco to the consumer more directly, with a better profit to himself,-

and at the sametime to give to the consumera better and cheaper article. To this end I omit the stemming operation and the alterhate drying and drawing of the moisture of thelumps and also thepressing, and in place Serial No. 696,932. (No specimens.)

thereof, after the tobacco is dipped or sprinkled with the flavor, it is at once completely dried while the stems are still intact and then ordered by steam or dampness. .A number of leaves are then folded and wrapped into a package in a peculiar way,with the butt-ends of the stems inside the-package and the leaves folded outside the stems, so as to present a neat smooth exterior which affords no harsh projecting stems to break or pierce the tinfoil, paper, or other outer wrapper and which fully preserves all the natural juices and full flavor of the tobacco,as well as saving the large per cent. of tobacco that is lost in the stem-'v ming and at the same time affording a package which, never being hard-pressed, may be .unfolded and inspected by the consumer, so

as to assure himself of the good quality of the same and the absence of dirt, grit, and'other foreign matter that is so frequently imprisoned within the plugs.

In the old way the leaf passes through the following operation: first, dipping or sprinkling with flavoring; second,s't emming; third,

Wrapping in lumps'while still wet; fourth, drying; fifth, drawing, and, sixth, pressing into plugs.

In my operation the leaf is treated as fol-- lows: first, dipping or sprinkling with sweetstring or flavoring; second,drying completely; third, ordering, and, fourth, wrapping it into entlydescribe. In these latter operations it packages in. a peculiar way, which I will preswhich require a special plant of special m'a- 'chinery are dispensed with.

Figure 1 shows the way of handling a bunch of leaves preparatory to wrapping it into a package. Fig. 2 shows a leaf with the lines of folding involved in forming it into a package. ready for the wrapper in accordance with my invention. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the completed package, and Fig. {is a 1ongitudinal section of the same.

Assuming that the leaf from the warehousefioor has beendipped or-sprinkled with a flavoring, such as a solution of'licorice andsugar, it is dried completely until all moisture is out of it. ess of ordering by a direct contact with wet 'steamor damp air. A. group of leaves of requisite weight is then taken in the left hand,

It is then put through the procas shown in Fig. 1, with the stem ends a all brought together and bent around the forefinger. The leaf portions 1) are then taken in the right hand and, being fairly well flattened out, are carried around and around the left hand, as indicated by the arrow, which 'makes a series of transverse bends. in the leaves, as shown by lines 1 2 3 4 of Fig. 2. If a half-pound package is wanted, the folds of the leaf inclose the four fingers, as shown in the drawings. If a quarter-pound package, the little finger is closed up, and if a pound package is wanted the folds inclose all four fingers and the thumb also. The left hand is next slipped out of the wrappings of the leaf, leaving the stem ends entirely with in the ihterior of the convolntions, as shown in Fig. 4:. The package as thus formed is then lightly flattened and the edges are tucked in or folded along the longitudinal lines 5 5 in Fig. 2, so as to give the approximately rectangular shape shown at 6 6 6 G in Fig. 2 and by the outlines of Fig. In this shape the packages are retained by the slightly gummy or plastic nature of the leaf, and the packages are then surrounded by paper or tin-foil, the

revenuestamp applied, and the packages lightly packed into the box or receptacle to receive them and in which they are now ready for the market. This tobacco is a new article on the market and is known as Ilavored free leaf.

The advantages of this manner of preparing the tobacco and the form in which it is presented are as follows: First, it involves a saving of over fifty per cent. in the cost of manufacture; second, it does away with all special apparatus for this purpose and enables every tobacco-grower to prepare his own tobacco in spccted at any time by either the dealer orcondition ready for the consumer; third, the liability to mold from imperfect drying is avoided; fourth, it may be opened and in- I am aware that in the process of making fine-cut tobacco a slight sweetening of a saccharine solution is put into the leaf before the stem is removed and after which the stem is removed and the stripped leaves out up.-

My invention is di'stinctivein that it presents as a finished manufactured article the sweetened and flavored leaves of tobacco with the stems still in or intact. This not only gives the advantages named, but the tobacco constan tly gets better in quality as the leaf seems to feed from the stem and to get better as it gets older.

Having thus described myinvention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. Sweetened or flavored leaves of tobacco retaining their stems intact, as a finished manufactured article.

2. Sweetened or flavored leaves of tobacco, u n pressed, and retaining their stems intact as a finished manufactured article. f

3. A package of tobacco-leaves with stems intact, with butt-ends of stems foldedinside the package and away from their wrapper.

4. A package of manufactured tobacco consisting of a group of leaves with stems intact folded with the butt-end of the stems inside folded with a series of transverse bends into wrappings or convolutions with the butt-ends of the stems inside, and havingits sides also 'foldcdor'tucked in along the longitudinal lines of the leaf substantially as and for the purpose described.

WILLIAM A. rRa'rwELt. Witnesses:

EDWD. W. BYRN, SoLoN C. KEMON. 

